Acrylic Vs Polycarbonate Skylights

Custom glass skylights cost more than custom acrylic skylights.

Acrylic vs polycarbonate skylights.

They re both fairly durable. If your main concern is illuminating a room then a clear acrylic dome would be best choice. Acrylic skylights are domed and stand out and look out dated. Unlike some of its popular competitors such as fibreglass polycarbonate is completely transparent rather than translucent or opaque so it has the clarity of glass with few of the drawbacks.

Polycarbonate sheet with trade names like lexan and makrolon polycarbonate panels are the epitome of strength and durability. From durable signs and skylights to eye catching retail store fixtures displays and shelves acrylic plastics provide outstanding versatility durability and aesthetic qualities. Polycarbonate offers much more resilience than acrylic making it ideal for highly demanding applications like bullet resistant windows. Acrylic has a high gloss finish and is more transparent making it ideal for display cases.

Polycarbonate is the stronger material at 250 times the impact resistance of standard glass. But acrylic is a bit more rigid than polycarbonate at room temperature so it is more likely to chip or crack when struck with a sharp or heavy object. If you are trying to soften the light or to eliminate glare then an acrylic skylight with a bronze or white tint is. Acrylic requires regular cleaning.

Glass is better insulated and reduces unwanted outside noise by up to 50 less than an acrylic skylight. Acrylic sheet exhibits glass like qualities clarity brilliance and transparency but at half the weight and many times the impact resistance of glass. Cost velux fixed skylight models are cheaper than acrylic. Acrylic has roughly 17 times the impact resistance.

Polycarbonate is a tough transparent plastic material with outstanding strength stiffness and impact resistance. Acrylic skylights have the ability to take in sunlight from many angles which results in more overall light entering the room. Acrylic by it s nature can add a wavy distortion to the view and are usually tinted bronze. Polycarbonate is 200 times stronger than glass and 15 times stronger than standard acrylic sheets.

Acrylic is known for being about 10 times more impact resistant than glass while polycarbonate is about 250 times more impact resistant than glass. This material type is a great solution for areas where panels need to undergo extreme abuse. Here are the 6 reasons why we think that polycarbonate is the superior choice for skylight material.